Peachy Sweet
by Duinhiril Rinaruine Telcontar
Summary: While Cliff daydreams of past events, the new farmer girl Claire ask if he could help her pack peaches. What will this event lead to? Rated T for mild language.


*Peachy Sweet*

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A little oneshot inspired by a short story in a book I read. I don't own Harvest Moon or any of the characters.

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Cliff sat on the rightmost front row chair of the church admiring the beautiful stained glass window shining light on the altar. Today was Saturday, which meant the winery was closed signaling his day off. But somehow, the day isn't as good as he thought it would be…

He just found himself awake at eight-forty AM then found himself in the church at ten-thirty. He sat there for a good two hours. Carter was busy doing an errand and he was the only person inside the quiet sanctuary.

His thoughts soon lingered on the past events that have happened. The young man could feel the soft snow stinging cold on his body that morning in Rose Square; he remembered when he ran away from home whenever it snowed. That second he suddenly felt the weakness of his knees and collapsed to the ground. He fell into the cold floor as the memory replayed in his mind over and over again. His eyes felt heavy little by little as a cry of his name pierced the silence away through the freezing cold. He felt hands on his face as he felt his head being pulled onto the lap of the owner of the voice, his cheeks felt warmer on the clothing she wore. "Cliff! Cliff! What happened?! Are you okay?!" It snapped to him, it was the voice of the new farmer girl Claire: his best friend who has just moved in last Spring. But in majority he didn't pay attention to her cries, rather, his conscience dwelled with the same memory that played all over again and again until all he remembered was the cries of his dear friend. His eyes fell shut and he blacked out.

He awoke with the light snoring of a person and the warmth of a white blanket over him. He fought with the tiredness of his eyes and successfully flung them open. Staring at the ceiling, he knew he was at the clinic. Cliff sat up and looked around the room and his eyes fell upon a sleeping farmer.

He remembered all the events that happened and kept staring at her sleeping figure. Did she bring him here? Was she waiting for him to wake up? Cliff could only smile on how concerned Claire would be. And how she would panic. He remembered the time when Stu came to visit the farm while he was there. Stu wanted to see the animals so Claire showed him the horse Barley gave to her, Barret. She carried him then made him sit on the saddle. Stu was so excited about being a 'cowboy' that it pumped up Barret and made him gallop at lightning speed. Stu started to cry and begged the horse to stop. Cliff was just sitting on a tree stump until the horse nearly ran over him! Claire was chasing the both of them crying"Stu! Barret, stop boy! Damn it Elli and the others are gonna massacre me!" It took an hour to exhaust Barret and get Stu back down, he said "That…was…AWESOME!" Claire just stood shocked at the lad's sudden bliss.

Back to reality, Claire woke up and stretched her arms and yawned. Her eyes went big when she saw the young man awake and smiling at her. "Ahh! Cliff, are you okay?! Do you feel ill?! Why did you pass out?! Damn it, maybe there are invaders hiding in the shadows!" He could only laugh loudly at her panicking; this was the second time that he laughed this loud in a long time, the first was when Claire was mobbed by her animals. Cliff's laughter came to a halt when he noticed a piece of paper in one of the young ladies pocket. Claire noticed and took out the picture with her mittened hand. "This is your family picture isn't it?" Cliff could only nod. "That's my mother over there and that's my sister, then my father." Cliff pointed on the members of the picture. He then pointed on a boy who looked like himself. "You?" she asked. He again nodded." When I was young, I was sick of my life and ran away from home, on a snowy day that's why I was out there." The usually cheerful output of the girl was a serious look on her face."But you have to be more considerate of your health Cliff, who knows what would have happened to you if I didn't pass by. Carter, Ann, Doug and all the others where worried about you, even Gray for the goddess' sake! Speaking of the goddess, she was too." Cliff gave his best friend a smile assuring her he would be okay." I'm sorry." She smiled back and began to leave the clinic"Take care now."

Cliff snapped back to reality and stared at the altar once more. The summer silence was cut short when a certain perky voice rang through his ears. "Cliff! Over here!" Cliff turned around to see the one-and-only Claire jogging towards him with dirt all over her clothes and face. She caught her breath and began to speak." Hi, I just harvested the peaches from the peach trees awhile ago and I need help packing them up for shipment, I was wondering if you could help me… Could you?" Cliff thought for awhile, packing peaches? Sounds okay"Okay I guess I could." Claire's blue eyes flickered with glee" Okay then, let's go!" She swiftly pulled his hand and dragged him towards the farm. Cliff's cheeks flashed a thousand shades of red to the fact they were holding hands, he could feel the warmth of her palm pass through his spine. They were never this close before.

In a matter of seconds they arrived at Sunshine Farm. Cliff marveled at all the seasonal crops sown on her field and the beautiful animals that grazed under the warm summer sun. Claire's house was quite a beauty too; she has earned a lot of money to make it that Big! As the two entered the house there was a kitchen, a queen-sized bed and other home necessities. But Cliff's attention was concentrated on the baskets of juicy-looking peaches. Claire moved towards the pink fruits and Cliff followed her behind. The young farmer explained what he should do. They each put peaches into the jars until it was full, poured the syrup in, then Cliff would label them. It was already past five when they triumphantly packed twenty jars of peaches. And the both of them where sticky with syrup. "Wow! Look at all we will ship today Cliffy! There's going to be a BIG income!" She gave a friendly pat on the back to her shy friend but her hand stuck on his shirt for a few seconds. "Boy, we sure are sticky aren't we?" Claire sat on the ground then jolted up again. "Ah! It's already past five! I hope Zack is still gathering the tomatoes and corn I just harvested!" She gathered up all the jars her arm could hold and dashed toward the door. He carried a few others and ran after her. Leaving seven more jars on the kitchen counter. To the farmer's relief, the shipment dude (as how Claire calls him) has just arriving. The muscular gave a big grin to the two friends. "Whoa Claire! You really outdid yourself!" The young farmer girl sheepishly grinned back "But Cliff helped out a lot you know…" The shy boy's cheeks flushed red as the tomatoes on the farmer's field. "Cliff you say? Good work helpin' the young lass with the peaches." "It was my pleasure."Claire told Zack to wait then came back with the other peach jars. With that Zack went off smiling like crazy at the load he was carrying. Claire released a sigh and stumbled on the grass. "I'm tired!" Her blue eyes caught sight of a marvelous sunset. "Wow, what a view Cliff! Let's watch it set on a nearer area." She looked around hastily for a spot. The farmer grabbed Cliff's hand once again and dragged him in front of a fence. She climbed it and landed on the other side near the river. Cliff followed and sat down beside her. They both admired the orange sky scene before them. Claire scooted closer to Cliff, startling him. Cliff then started feeling hot when her head rested on his right shoulder. His breathing became uneven and his heart started racing like it was competing in a marathon. There was a long silence until the young lady spoke up.

"Cliff… Do you know what love is?"

_They stared into each others' eyes_

"_Wh-what do you mean?"_

_Focused on each other, each other only_

"Well…um…"

_Finding the right words to say…_

"…_Claire…_ I think I have an answer…"

"Y-you do…?"

Without a single thought, Cliff, closed the gap of their faces and locked his lips with Claire. The shocked farmer took time to relax and grasped on his neck. Cliff wrapped his arms around her waist to pour more passion into the kiss. The moment they were sharing would be unforgettable. He has never done this before to anyone else but _her_. Cliff finally knew the foreign feeling whenever he was with her. It wasn't only the gratitude he felt when Claire gave him a job so he would stay in town. But the love and affection he hid from her and the world.

They soon parted gasping for air. Cliff's sticky hands brushed over Claire's long, blonde hair making it sticky and tangled, but the two of them didn't care as long as they weren't apart. Cliff gave her a final answer. "Love is hard to define. But love is shone when others care for one another. I guess."They smiled. Claire smiled that trademarked grin of hers. "Does that mean we're hooked up? If you know what I mean." Cliff sweetly kissed her forehead. "Yeah." They sat on their original positions with Cliff's arm around the woman he loved and cared for. Claire lightly pinched the man's cheek. "Cliff, you're so peachy-sweet."

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That was my first romantic thing and story with a kiss scene. Please tell me if I have wrong grammar and I would appreciate if you can give me tips to improve my writing. Thank you!


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